U.S. patent number 9,588,146 [Application Number 14/454,280] was granted by the patent office on 2017-03-07 for electrode for measuring biosignal and biosignal measurement device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SNU R&DB FOUNDATION. The grantee listed for this patent is Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SNU R&DB FOUNDATION. Invention is credited to Youn Ho Kim, Jeong Su Lee, Yong Gyu Lim, Kwang Suk Park, Kun Soo Shin.
United States Patent |
9,588,146 |
Kim , et al. |
March 7, 2017 |
Electrode for measuring biosignal and biosignal measurement
device
Abstract
Disclosed are a biosignal measurement device and a
capacitively-coupled active electrode. The capacitively-coupled
active electrode includes an electrode face configured to form
capacitive coupling with a subject in a non-contact manner to
detect a biosignal, and a pre-amplifier disposed on a rear side of
the electrode face and embedded in a porous insulator.
Inventors: |
Kim; Youn Ho (Hwaseong-si,
KR), Shin; Kun Soo (Seongnam-si, KR), Park;
Kwang Suk (Seoul, KR), Lee; Jeong Su (Seoul,
KR), Lim; Yong Gyu (Seoul, KR) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
SNU R&DB FOUNDATION |
Suwon-si
Seoul |
N/A
N/A |
KR
KR |
|
|
Assignee: |
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
(Suwon-si, KR)
SNU R&DB FOUNDATION (Seoul, KR)
|
Family
ID: |
52448085 |
Appl.
No.: |
14/454,280 |
Filed: |
August 7, 2014 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20150042312 A1 |
Feb 12, 2015 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
|
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Aug 8, 2013 [KR] |
|
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10-2013-0094181 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01R
1/203 (20130101); G01R 15/16 (20130101); A61B
5/302 (20210101); A61B 2562/0214 (20130101); A61B
5/296 (20210101); A61B 5/398 (20210101); A61B
5/30 (20210101); A61B 5/291 (20210101) |
Current International
Class: |
G01R
15/16 (20060101); A61B 5/0428 (20060101); G01R
1/20 (20060101); A61B 5/0478 (20060101); A61B
5/0492 (20060101); A61B 5/0496 (20060101); A61B
5/04 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
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11-113866 |
|
Apr 1999 |
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JP |
|
2011-223 |
|
Jan 2011 |
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JP |
|
2011-36524 |
|
Feb 2011 |
|
JP |
|
2012-120705 |
|
Jun 2012 |
|
JP |
|
10-2006-0050892 |
|
May 2006 |
|
KR |
|
20-0416389 |
|
May 2006 |
|
KR |
|
10-2009-0131542 |
|
Dec 2009 |
|
KR |
|
Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Vinh
Attorney, Agent or Firm: NSIP Law
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A capacitively-coupled active electrode, comprising: an
electrode face configured to detect a biosignal; a pre-amplifier
configured to amplify the biosignal; a shield configured to
surround the electrode face and the pre-amplifier; and an insulator
that is flexible and configured to support the shield on the
electrode face, wherein the insulator comprises a porous material
in which air bubbles are dispersed, and wherein the electrode face
comprises a conductive foam configured to conform to an irregular
contact surface of a target.
2. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises a
material having mechanical strength to maintain a space predefined
between the electrode face and the shield.
3. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises at
least one of silicon foam, urethane foam, silicone, urethane,
rubber, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
4. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises a
material having a dielectric constant less than 4 under standard
temperature and pressure.
5. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the shield comprises a
flexible material that conforms to a shape of the insulator.
6. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the shield comprises a
conductive sheet that surrounds the insulator.
7. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the electrode face comprises a
flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) that conforms to a shape of
the insulator.
8. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the electrode face is further
configured to detect the biosignal without a conductive gel
disposed on the electrode face.
9. A biosignal measurement device, comprising: a
capacitively-coupled active electrode comprising an insulator that
is flexible and configured to support a shield that surrounds a
pre-amplifier on an electrode face configured to detect a
biosignal; and a signal processing unit configured to extract a
measurement result by processing the biosignal, wherein the
insulator comprises a porous material in which air bubbles are
dispersed, and wherein the electrode face comprises a conductive
foam configured to conform to an irregular contact surface of a
target to establish a non-contact capacitive coupling.
10. The device of claim 9, wherein the insulator comprises a
material having mechanical strength to maintain a space predefined
between the electrode face and the shield.
11. The device of claim 9, wherein the insulator comprises at least
one of silicon foam, urethane foam, silicone, urethane, rubber, and
polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
12. The device of claim 9, wherein the insulator comprises a
material having a dielectric constant less than 4 under standard
temperature and pressure.
13. The device of claim 9, wherein the shield comprises a flexible
material that conforms to a shape of the insulator.
14. The device of claim 9, wherein the shield comprises a
conductive sheet that surrounds the insulator.
15. The device of claim 9, wherein the electrode face comprises a
flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) that conforms to a shape of
the insulator.
16. The device of claim 9, wherein the electrode face is further
configured to detect the biosignal without a conductive gel
disposed on the electrode face.
17. A capacitively-coupled electrode, comprising: an electrode face
configured to form a capacitive coupling with a subject in a
non-contact manner to detect a biosignal; and a pre-amplifier
disposed on a rear side of the electrode face and embedded in a
porous insulator, wherein the electrode face comprises a conductive
foam configured to conform to an irregular contact surface of a
target to establish a non-contact capacitive coupling.
18. The capacitively-coupled electrode of claim 17, further
comprising a shield covering the porous insulator such that the
pre-amplifier is encapsulated between the rear side of the
electrode face and the shield.
19. The capacitively-coupled electrode of claim 18, wherein the
shield comprises a flexible material that conforms to a shape of
the porous insulator.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(a) of Korean
Patent Application No. 10-2013-0094181 filed on Aug. 8, 2013, in
the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND
1. Field
The following description relates to an electrode for measuring a
biosignal and to a biosignal measurement device.
2. Description of Related Art
Information technology (IT) networks, such as the Internet, a
mobile phone, a bi-directional cable television (TV), and the like
may be used to improve the sharing of medical information between
healthcare providers and patients.
For example, Ubiquitous health (U-health) refers to an IT network
service that provides healthcare service and medical treatments,
such as diagnosis, treatments, and a real-time monitoring of a
patient's health condition, by connecting a patient to a doctor
without restrictions placed on time and space by requiring the
patient to meet with the doctor in person.
An electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement device is used by healthcare
providers to measure a biosignal related to an electric activity
that occurs inside the body during the beating of a heart. ECG
electrodes that are used in hospitals generally include a
conductive gel. For this type of ECG electrodes, a healthcare
technician places the ECG electrodes directly on the skin of a
patient in order to obtain an ECG, which is a record of waves
related to electrical impulses produced during the beating of a
patient's heart.
An ECG measurement device that may be used outside of a hospital
environment is desirable to allow patients to use the U-health
service and other IT network-based health services.
SUMMARY
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a
simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed
Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features
or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it
intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the
claimed subject matter.
In one general aspect, a capacitively-coupled active electrode
including an electrode face configured to detect a biosignal, a
pre-amplifier configured to amplify the biosignal, a shield
configured to surround the electrode face and the pre-amplifier,
and an insulator that is flexible and configured to support the
shield on the electrode face.
The insulator may include a material having mechanical strength to
maintain a space predefined between the electrode face and the
shield.
The insulator may include a material that includes an air
layer.
The insulator may include a porous material in which air bubbles
are dispersed.
The insulator may include at least one of silicon foam, urethane
foam, silicone, urethane, rubber, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
The insulator may include a material having a dielectric constant
less than 4 at STP.
The shield may include a flexible material that conforms to a shape
of the insulator.
The shield may include a conductive sheet that surrounds the
insulator.
The general aspect of the electrode may further include a
conductive foam configured to conform to an irregular contact
surface of a target.
The electrode face may include a flexible printed circuit board
(FPCB) that conforms to a shape of the insulator.
The capacitively-coupled active electrode may be a non-contact
electrode without a conductive gel disposed on the electrode
face.
In another general aspect, there is provided a biosignal
measurement device including a capacitively-coupled active
electrode comprising an insulator that is flexible and configured
to support a shield that surrounds a pre-amplifier on an electrode
face configured to detect a biosignal, and a signal processing unit
configured to extract a measurement result by processing the
biosignal.
The insulator may include a material having mechanical strength to
maintain a space predefined between the electrode face and the
shield.
The insulator may include a material comprising an air layer.
The insulator may include a porous material in which air bubbles
are dispersed.
The insulator may include at least one of silicon foam, urethane
foam, silicone, urethane, rubber, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
The insulator may include a material having a dielectric constant
less than 4 at STP.
The shield may include a flexible material that conforms to a shape
of the insulator.
The shield may include a conductive sheet that surrounds the
insulator.
The capacitively-coupled active electrode may further include a
conductive foam configured to conform to an irregular contact
surface of a target to establish a non-contact capacitive
coupling.
The electrode face may include a flexible printed circuit board
(FPCB) that conforms to a shape of the insulator.
The capacitively-coupled active electrode may be a non-contact
electrode without a conductive gel disposed on the electrode
face.
In another general aspect, there is provided a capacitively-coupled
electrode including an electrode face configured to form a
capacitive coupling with a subject in a non-contact manner to
detect a biosignal, and a pre-amplifier disposed on a rear side of
the electrode face and embedded in a porous insulator.
The general aspect of the capacitively-coupled electrode may
further include a shield covering the porous insulator such that
the pre-amplifier is encapsulated between the rear side of the
electrode face and the shield.
The shield may include a flexible material that conforms to a shape
of the porous insulator.
Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following
detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a
capacitively-coupled electrode (CCE).
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a
flexible CCE (FCCE).
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another example of an
FCCE.
FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an
FCCE without a conductive foam.
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an
FCCE with a conductive foam.
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating an example of a frequency response
curve with respect to a material of an insulator.
FIG. 6A is a graph illustrating an example of a biosignal measured
with an FCCE.
FIG. 6B is a graph illustrating an example of a biosignal measured
with an inflexible electrode using a direct contact method.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a biosignal
measurement device.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless
otherwise described or provided, the same drawing reference
numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements,
features, and structures. The drawings may not be to scale, and the
relative size, proportions, and depiction of elements in the
drawings may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and
convenience.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader
in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods,
apparatuses, and/or systems described herein. However, various
changes, modifications, and equivalents of the systems, apparatuses
and/or methods described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary
skill in the art. The progression of processing steps and/or
operations described is an example; however, the sequence of and/or
operations is not limited to that set forth herein and may be
changed as is known in the art, with the exception of steps and/or
operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. Also,
descriptions of functions and constructions that are well known to
one of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted for increased
clarity and conciseness.
The features described herein may be embodied in different forms,
and are not to be construed as being limited to the examples
described herein. Rather, the examples described herein have been
provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and
will convey the full scope of the disclosure to one of ordinary
skill in the art.
Non-invasive biopotential sensors may be applied to skin surfaces
to measure biosignals. To ensure a good resistive contact to the
skin, a conductive gel is often used. Thus, such a biopotential
sensor is referred to as a wet electrode. ECG electrodes that are
used in hospitals generally include a conductive gel. However, an
ECG of a patient may be obtained without using a conductive gel in
a noncontact manner. For example, an ECG of a patient may be
obtained in a state in which a patient is wearing clothes, for
example.
A technique for measuring biosignals in a noncontact manner without
the use of a conductive gel can facilitate the measurement of
biosignals by users who are not healthcare professionals. Further,
such technique can enhance services provided by the U-health and
other IT network-based healthcare services by allowing the
monitoring of a patient's biosignals without having the patient
physically brought to a hospital.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a capacitively-coupled electrode
(CCE). The illustrated CCE is an active capacitively-coupled
noncontact electrode (CCNE). An active electrode refers to an
electrode that does not use an electrolyte or a conductive gel to
obtain a resistive contact to a subject, such as the skin of a
patient. Rather, active electrodes may employ an impedance
transformation at a sensing site via active electronics. Further,
the detection of the human biosignals may be obtained based on
capacitive coupling, without the resistive coupling to the
skin.
Referring to FIG. 1, the CCE includes an electrode face 110
implemented with a metal plate, a pre-amplifier 120 provided at the
rear of the electrode face 110, and a shield 130 configured to
surround the electrode face 110 and a rear surface of the electrode
surface 110. In the event that a clothing 191 is present between
the electrode face 110 and a human body 190, a capacitive coupling,
labeled as C.sub.CLTH in FIG. 1, may be established between the
skin 190 and the electrode face 110.
According to one example, a resistor with a resistance R.sub.B may
be connected between the shield 130 and an input terminal of the
pre-amplifier 120 in order to stabilize an amplifier by flowing
bias current in an amplifier element, for example, a transistor or
an operation amplifier of the pre-amplifier 120. In the event that
a biosignal is measured using an indirect contact, a high
resistance, for example, of 2G .OMEGA. or more may be applied to
increase the input impedance of the amplifier. In this example,
stray capacitance C.sub.B may be present between the electrode face
110 and a ground. The E.sub.S in FIG. 1 denotes a signal source
obtained by modeling the biosignal of the human body 190. The
signal source has a unit of "V".
The CCE according to examples described herein may generate a
capacitive coupling between a skin and an electrode face through an
indirect contact between the skin of a human body and a piece of
clothing. A measurement result of the biosignal may be obtained by
extracting a differential component from two signals obtained from
two active electrodes and then amplifying and filtering the
extracted differential component using a differential amplifier.
Examples of measurement results obtained by measuring the biosignal
include an electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform. Other biosignals that
may be obtained include an electrooculogram (EOG), an
electromyogram (EMG), an electroencephalogram (EEG) and the
like.
A ground plate may ground the human body through capacitive
coupling using clothes, without directly contacting with the skin
of the human body. Using a CCE and an indirect contact ground
plate, a biosignal may be measured without using any direct contact
between the human body and the measurement equipment. In general,
an electrode face and a shield may be designed using a metal
material that is hardened at a predetermined interval in order to
minimize a change in parasitic capacitance C.sub.B.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a flexible CCE (FCCE). Referring
to FIG. 2, the FCCE includes an electrode face 210, a pre-amplifier
220, a shield 230, an insulator 240, and a conductive foam 250.
The electrode face 210 may be made of a conductive material such
as, for example, a metal plate. The electrode face 210 may be used
to detect a biosignal. The electrode face 210 may include a
flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 211, and may be made of a
flexible material. For example, the FPCB 211 may be flexible enough
to conform to the shape of the insulator in the event that some
portion of the insulator is deformed due to external stress.
The pre-amplifier 220 may amplify a biosignal detected by the
electrode face 210. For example, the pre-amplifier 220 may be
configured as a buffer and may transfer the detected biosignal to a
signal processing unit (not shown).
The shield 230 may surround the electrode face 210 and the
pre-amplifier 220 in order to prevent external noise from being
picked up by the electrode face 210 and be amplified with the
biosignal. For example, the shield 230 may be configured using a
conductive material and may block the external noise from entering
the FCCE.
The shield 230 may include a flexible material that is sufficiently
flexible to conform to an outer shape of the insulator 240. For
example, the shield 230 may include a conductive sheet. In the
event that the insulator 240 is deformed due to external stress,
the shield 230 may be flexible enough to conform to the deformed
shape of the insulator 240.
The insulator 240 may support the shield 230 on the electrode face
210. The insulator 240 may be made of a flexible material. To
support the shield 230, the insulator 240 may have stiffness and
mechanical strength sufficient to maintain a space predefined
between the electrode face 210 and the shield 230. The insulator
240 may include air layers, air bubbles or air gaps. The insulator
240 may be made of a material having a micro structure in which an
air layer is included. For example, the insulator 240 may be formed
of a porous material in which air bubbles are dispersed, such as in
a synthetic foam. For example, the insulator 240 may include a
silicon foam, an urethane foam, or the like. A material that may
form the insulator 240 is further described with reference to FIG.
5.
The conductive foam 250 may enable a contact surface to closely
contact an irregular surface. In the event that the metal flat
electrode face 210 is attached to an irregular surface such as, for
example, a human body, a partial gap may occur between the
electrode face 210 and a portion of the body to be measured due to
the natural curve of the body unless the conductive foam 250 is
used. Such a gap may reduce a capacitance of the capacitive
coupling generated between the human body and the electrode face
210. In the event that a biosignal is measured under such a
condition, a gain with respect to a frequency response may be
decreased.
Thus, according to various examples, the electrode face 210 of the
FCCE may include a conductive foam 250, and the conductive foam 250
may reduce the effects of having an irregular or uneven measurement
surface. For example, the conductive foam 250 enables the electrode
face 210 to closely contact the portion of the body to be measured.
Thus, a capacitance component between the human body and the
electrode face 210 may be maximized Due to the maximization of the
capacitance component, the gain with respect to the frequency
response may be increased during the biosignal measurement.
Further, even when the human body is in an unstable state such as
when the patient is exercising or moving the body, due to a close
contact with the portion to be measured, the biosignal may be
measured with relative stability.
FIG. 3 illustrates another example of an FCCE. Referring to FIG. 3,
the FCCE includes an electrode face 310, a pre-amplifier 320, and a
shield 330. The configuration of the FCCE may be similar to the
aforementioned configuration of the CCE of FIG. 2. Thus,
descriptions that are repetitive were omitted for conciseness.
The FCCE may include at least one pre-amplifier 320 on the
electrode face 310. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, two
pre-amplifiers 320 are disposed on the electrode face 310.
FIG. 4A illustrates an example of an FCCE without a conductive
foam, and FIG. 4B illustrates an example of an FCCE that includes a
conductive foam 450. Based on one design, the FCCE may be
configured to allow the use of a conductive foam 450 in the FCCE.
In the event that a conductive foam 450 is included in the FCCE, a
relatively high gain may be achieved in a frequency response curve
of a biosignal measurement compared to an FCCE without the
conductive foam 450. The high gain may be useful in measuring a
change in capacitance between a human body 490 and an electrode
face 410; thus, the use of the conductive foam 450 may facilitate
the measurement of a biosignal.
As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the conductive foam 450 enables a
surface of the electrode face 410 to closely contact an irregular
contact surface of the human body 490. Since the surface of the
electrode face 410 closely contacts the contact surface of the
human body 490 through the conductive foam 450, a dielectric
constant between the electrode face 410 and the human body 490 may
increase and an interval therebetween may decrease. Accordingly,
the capacitance of capacitive coupling between the electrode face
410 and the human body 490 may increase. A frequency response gain
may increase in response to the maximization of a capacitance
component between the electrode face 410 and the human body 490.
Thus, it is possible to measure the biosignal with improved
accuracy.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a frequency response curve with
respect to a material of an insulator. External noise may be more
effectively eliminated by a shield according to a decrease in a
dielectric constant of the insulator. For example, a material
having a small dielectric constant that may be used as an insulator
of the FCCE include a silicon foam 550, a urethane foam, silicon
540, urethane 520, rubber 530, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
510.
The graph of FIG. 5 illustrates the voltage gain obtained with an
FCCE that includes an insulator using the aforementioned material
during a frequency response evaluation. A relatively small voltage
gain was achieved in an order of the PVC 510, the urethane 520, the
rubber 530, the silicon 540, and the silicon foam 550. Even though
the same material is used, the porous silicon foam 550 including a
plurality of air layers may have a relatively small voltage gain
compared to the silicone 540. Referring to the graph of FIG. 5, the
silicon foam 550 has the smallest voltage gain and has the smallest
dielectric constant. Accordingly, among the tested materials, the
silicon foam 550 may be the most suitable material for use as the
insulator in the FCCE.
In one example, the dielectric constant of the insulator may be
less than a predetermined value. For example, the electric constant
of the insulator may be less than 12 (silicon), 7 (rubber), 4 or 2
under standard temperature and pressure.
A porous insulator may be used in order to maintain a small
dielectric constant and to maintain a shape of an FCCE. A shield of
the FCCE may include a conductive sheet for the flexibility. A
conductive sheet may not have sufficient strength to maintain the
shape of the shield. Accordingly, without using a separate
supporting member, parasitic capacitance C.sub.B between an
electrode face and the shield may easily vary, and it may be
difficult to stably measure the biosignal. A porous material
including an air layer that has sufficient stiffness and strength
capable of maintaining a predetermined shape and space while having
a small dielectric constant, may be used as the insulator.
For example, the silicon foam 550 may have strength capable of
maintaining a predetermined space between the electrode face and
the conductive sheet provided in a fabric shape, may have a small
dielectric constant, and may be flexible. Also, as illustrated in
FIG. 5, the silicon foam 550 has the smallest dielectric constant,
and may be thus most suitable as a material for the insulator of
the FCCE.
According to another example, the insulator may include a material
having a dielectric constant less than a predetermined value. The
predetermined value may include a dielectric constant of a level at
which external noise coming from the shield is sufficiently
attenuated while passing through the insulator, and thus allowing a
biosignal to be detected. For example, a small dielectric constant
may be advantageous in shielding the external noise. Thus, the
predetermined value may be a value less than or equal to at least
one dielectric constant of the silicon foam 550, the urethane foam,
the silicon 540, the urethane 520, the rubber 530, and the PVC
510.
FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an example of a biosignal measured at an
FCCE. FIG. 6A illustrates a graph showing an ECG wavelength
measured at the FCCE for seven seconds. FIG. 6B illustrates a graph
showing an ECG wavelength measured at an inflexible metal electrode
for seven seconds using a direct skin contact method.
The FCCE according to examples described above may result in an ECG
in which a baseline drift of the ECG wavelength has occurred, as
illustrated in the graph of FIG. 6A. The baseline drift can be
determined by comparison the graph of FIG. 6A with the graph in
FIG. 6B that obtained using direct skin contact. Such baseline
drift may be corrected. For example, in an R-peak based application
field, an R peak may be sufficiently detected from the waveform
obtained with an FCCE, and a baseline drift may be removed by
employing an HBP filter at a signal processing unit of a biosignal
measurement device.
FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a biosignal measurement device
700. Referring to FIG. 7, the biosignal measurement device 700
includes an FCCE 710 and a signal processing unit 720.
The FCCE 710 may include an insulator configured to support a
shield that surrounds a pre-amplifier on an electrode face
configured to detect a biosignal. The FCCE 710 may be flexible. The
configuration of the FCCE 710 may be similar to the aforementioned
configuration of the FCCE in FIG. 2.
The signal processing unit 720 may extract a measurement result by
processing the biosignal detected by the FCCE 710. The measurement
result may refer to a result of processing the biosignal and may
include an ECG wavelength, an EOG wavelength, an EMG wavelength,
and an EEG wavelength. For example, the signal processing unit 720
may include an amplifier and a filter configured to process the
biosignal. The filter may include an HBP filter and an LBP
filter.
The signal processing unit 720 may include a processing device.
Further, the biosignal processed by the signal processing unit 720
may be displayed on a display screen, further processed or
transmitted to other devices, or transmitted over an IT-network to
allow healthcare providers to monitor a patient condition.
A general rigid electrode may not be directly applied to the skin
or may not be readily applied to a fabric. However, the biosignal
measurement device 700 includes an FCCE 710. Thus, the biosignal
may be measured readily by applying the FCCE 710 directly to the
skin or indirectly to the skin, through a fabric, a clothing or the
like.
Also, with the use of the FCCE 710, the biosignal measurement
device 700 may prevent skin irritations or discomfort that may
occur while placing a rigid metal material directly on the skin
during the measurement of a biosignal.
The FCCE 710 may maintain a predetermined space between an
electrode face and a shield including a conductive sheet. By
preventing a change in an interval, an effect of parasitic
capacitance may be decreased. For example, an insulator having an
insulating performance within the FCCE 710 may support the space
between the electrode face and the shield.
The FCCE 710 may not use a rigid metal electrode. Thus, the
irritation and discomfort of having a direct contact with a rigid
metal electrode may be avoided. Further, the FCCE 710 may also be
robust against dynamic noise of a biosignal caused by a motion of a
human body. Accordingly, the FCCE 710 may be used in a variety of
application fields that uses a biosignal. For example, due to
enhanced convenience in measurement, a biosignal may be measured
without self-awareness of a measurement target. Thus, the
measurement of the biosignal can be taken constantly while the
patient engages in daily activities. Further, as the design of the
device is robust against human motion, the FCCE 710 may be applied
to various applications, such as an R-peak based heartbeat
monitoring device, a sleepiness prevention device, a daily sleep
and stress monitoring device, and a companion animal monitoring
device.
The units as described herein may be implemented using hardware
components and software components. For example, microphones,
amplifiers, band-pass filters, audio to digital convertors, and
processing devices may be included in such units. A processing
device may be implemented using one or more general-purpose or
special purpose computers, such as, for example, a processor, a
controller and an arithmetic logic unit, a digital signal
processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array, a
programmable logic unit, a microprocessor or any other device
capable of responding to and executing instructions in a defined
manner. The processing device may run an operating system (OS) and
one or more software applications that run on the OS. The
processing device also may access, store, manipulate, process, and
create data in response to execution of the software. For purpose
of simplicity, the description of a processing device is used as
singular; however, one skilled in the art will appreciated that a
processing device may include multiple processing elements and
multiple types of processing elements. For example, a processing
device may include multiple processors or a processor and a
controller. In addition, different processing configurations are
possible, such a parallel processors.
The software may include a computer program, a piece of code, an
instruction, or some combination thereof, for independently or
collectively instructing or configuring the processing device to
operate as desired. Software and data may be embodied permanently
or temporarily in any type of machine, component, physical or
virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device, or in a
propagated signal wave capable of providing instructions or data to
or being interpreted by the processing device. The software also
may be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that
the software is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In
particular, the software and data may be stored by one or more
computer readable recording mediums.
Program instructions to perform a method described herein, or one
or more operations thereof, may be recorded, stored, or fixed in
one or more computer-readable storage media. The program
instructions may be implemented by a computer. For example, the
computer may cause a processor to execute the program instructions.
The media may include, alone or in combination with the program
instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. Examples
of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include magnetic
media, such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical
media such as CD ROM disks and DVDs; magneto-optical media, such as
optical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured
to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory
(ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like.
Examples of program instructions include machine code, such as
produced by a compiler, and files including higher level code that
may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The program
instructions, that is, software, may be distributed over network
coupled computer systems so that the software is stored and
executed in a distributed fashion. For example, the software and
data may be stored by one or more computer readable storage
mediums. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments that
accomplish the examples disclosed herein can be easily construed by
programmers skilled in the art to which the examples pertain based
on and using the flow diagrams and block diagrams of the figures
and their corresponding descriptions as provided herein. Also, the
described unit to perform an operation or a method may be hardware,
software, or some combination of hardware and software. For
example, the unit may be a software package running on a computer
or the computer on which that software is running.
While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be
apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes
in form and details may be made in these examples without departing
from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The
examples described herein are to be considered in a descriptive
sense only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of
features or aspects in each example are to be considered as being
applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples.
Suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are
performed in a different order, and/or if components in a described
system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a
different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other
components or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the
disclosure is defined not by the detailed description, but by the
claims and their equivalents, and all variations within the scope
of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being
included in the disclosure.
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